SpaceX rocket launch spawns dazzling 'space jellyfish' in evening sky (photos)

When SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket from California on Monday evening (Feb. 10), it was just another flight for the company to boost its growing Starlink internet satellite constellation. For spectators on the ground, however, it was night sky art.

The Falcon 9 rocket, which lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base, took flight during evening twilight, when light from the recently set sun reflects off the exhaust plume of the rocket to create a spectacular effect that has been dubbed a "space jellyfish" by some observers.

"Absolutely stunning!" wrote one photographer, who goes by FirePhotoGirl on the social media site X, of the sight while sharing a photo and video of the launch. The view show the bright rocket plume over an illuminated pool.

The Falcon 9 rocket launched 23 Starlink satellites into orbit from Vandenberg's Space Launch Complex 4 East pad, with its first stage returning to Earth for a landing on the drone ship Of Course I Still Love You. It was the 18th Falcon 9 launch of 2025 for SpaceX.

Skywatcher Dima Zeniuk shared a video on X of the Starlink launch as it appeared to arc over Los Angeles, then created a stunning timelapse that showed the dramatic moments of stage separation between the Falcon 9's first stage booster from its upper stage.

"Stunning timelapse of a SpaceX launch over downtown Los Angeles," Zeniuk wrote in a post with the video.

SpaceX's rocket "jellyfish" even managed to photobomb one of the company's future passengers, a private space station module called Haven-1 built by Vast, as it was undergoing testing in California's Mojave Desert.

"Haven-1 primary structure qualification article at Vast’s Mojave test site, with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lighting up the evening sky—Haven-1’s future ride," Vast representatives wrote in a social media post accompanying the photo.

Vast's Haven-1 module is a prototype for a commercial space station the company hopes to build in low Earth orbit. The company has tapped SpaceX to launch the module into orbit by May 2026.

For its part, SpaceX released a trio of photographs of the Starlink launch, including one view of the "jellyfish" effect, an image of the rocket ascending toward space and a long-exposure view that showed the launch as a brilliant arc of light across the cloudy sky.

SpaceX is off to a fast clip with its rocket launch pace. Monday's rocket launch was the first of two back-to-back Starlink missions on Falcon 9 boosters. The second flight, which launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, delivered 21 Starlink satellites to orbit on Tuesday (Feb. 11).

SpaceX currently has about 6.990 operational Starlink satellites in orbit today, according to Jonathan McDowell, an astrophysicist and satellite tracker who regularly monitors Starlink launches.